Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria plan to sign an agreement on January 11 on a joint plan to clear mines in the Black Sea as a result of the war in Ukraine, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler said after months of talks between the NATO allies.
Black Sea states Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria met with officials from Georgia, Poland and Ukraine in April 2022 to discuss demining following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Defense ministers from the three countries also held talks on the plan at a NATO meeting in Brussels in October and in Ankara last month as they worked to finalize the initiative.
Speaking to reporters at a meeting in Ankara, Guler said the "Tripartite Initiative" would for now only include Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria
Defense ministers plan to hold a signing ceremony in Istanbul on January 11.
"Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, there are mines laid in both Ukrainian and Russian ports. They sometimes reach our straits because of the current," Guler told reporters.
"Our demining vessels will carry out permanent patrols up to the point where Romania's (sea) borders end," he added.
Britain earlier said it would transfer two Royal Navy minesweepers to the Ukrainian navy as it forms a new maritime defense coalition with Norway to help bolster Ukraine's maritime operations.
Turkey, which maintains good ties with both Kiev and Moscow, is also working with the United Nations, Ukraine and Russia to revive the Black Sea grain initiative, which Moscow abandoned earlier this year, although there have been no public signs of progress in these negotiations. /BGNES
